AUD/JPY refreshes monthly highs above 81.60 on Covid-19 vaccine optimism, Japanese political concerns

• AUD/JPY edges higher on Friday in the  European trading session.
• AUD gains on vaccine optimism despite rising coronavirus infections, dismal economic data.
• Yen remains on the backfoot after the Japanese Prime Minister step down to tackle coronavirus infections.

AUD/JPY edges higher on Friday in the European session. The pair continued to move higher following the previous session’s upside momentum.

At the time of writing, AUD/JPY is trading at 81.64, up 0.36% for the day.

The Aussie gains after the news confirmed that the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed to get 4m doses of Pfizer vaccine from the UK.

Furthermore, the downbeat Retail sales data, which declined 2.7% in July capped the upside gains for the Australian dollar.

It is worth noting that S&P 500 Futures were trading at 4,536, up 0.28% for the day.

On the other hand, the Japanese Yen lost its momentum after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga resigned and decided not to be part of the upcoming election in September. He further said that wanted to focus on coronavirus measures.

In recent data, the au Jibun Bank Japan Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) stood at 42.9 in August, as compared to 47.4 in the previous month.

A slower vaccination rollout program and lockdown restriction kept the currency pressurized.

Buoyed market sentiment boosts the riskier assets and reduces the demand for the safe-haven asset.

AUD/JPY additional levels